When Rick Lorenzo, the owner of a restaurant is found dead, his brother/business partner, Harold Lorenzo, asks Barnaby to investigate. He thinks Barnaby should focus on one of his brother's employees, the restaurant manager, hot-tempered Vince Bradford, who happens to be a now-married former boyfriend of Betty, and the two remain friends. It seems the deceased was always making passes at Bradford's wife, Nora. Another employee, Carl Fenton, saw the two men fighting on the night the owner died and tries to blackmail Bradford but Mrs. Bradford has other plans for Fenton.
Betty and Nora meet and some mild tension between the two women becomes apparent. Vince, now under suspicion over his dispute with Rick Lorenzo, tells Betty that he socked Rick in the mouth after a bitter dispute but the man was alive when he left. Nora confesses that she had to take care of matters (i.e. Kill Rick and Carl) because Vince is unable to handle things appropriately. When Betty tries to call the police, Nora takes out a gun and shoots at Betty but misses. Vince tries to grab the gun but gets shot accidentally. It is unclear how seriously he is wounded. Barnaby walks in and disarms Nora, who then begins crying that she never wanted to hurt Vince, whom she has always loved. Betty calls the police.
*** Final note: The show's performances are fine as always for this series, but Diana Hyland (as Mrs. Nora Bradford), battling the terminal cancer that would claim her life the following year (1977) is frail, which she hides as best she can but her lustrous mettle allows her to still make an impact. Interestingly, Dick Van Patten appears in the episode. Hyland and Van Patten would later star as a married couple in Eight Is Enough (1977), until Hyland was forced to withdraw due to her illness. The show continued and Betty Buckley was cast as the woman who becomes Van Patten's new love interest and second wife.
Betty and Nora meet and some mild tension between the two women becomes apparent. Vince, now under suspicion over his dispute with Rick Lorenzo, tells Betty that he socked Rick in the mouth after a bitter dispute but the man was alive when he left. Nora confesses that she had to take care of matters (i.e. Kill Rick and Carl) because Vince is unable to handle things appropriately. When Betty tries to call the police, Nora takes out a gun and shoots at Betty but misses. Vince tries to grab the gun but gets shot accidentally. It is unclear how seriously he is wounded. Barnaby walks in and disarms Nora, who then begins crying that she never wanted to hurt Vince, whom she has always loved. Betty calls the police.
*** Final note: The show's performances are fine as always for this series, but Diana Hyland (as Mrs. Nora Bradford), battling the terminal cancer that would claim her life the following year (1977) is frail, which she hides as best she can but her lustrous mettle allows her to still make an impact. Interestingly, Dick Van Patten appears in the episode. Hyland and Van Patten would later star as a married couple in Eight Is Enough (1977), until Hyland was forced to withdraw due to her illness. The show continued and Betty Buckley was cast as the woman who becomes Van Patten's new love interest and second wife.